


Memoirs of East Palace

by Yeon_Eunha



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Suh Youngho | Johnny, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Historical Inaccuracy, M/M, Omega Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:47:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28551102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeon_Eunha/pseuds/Yeon_Eunha
Summary: Yi Youngheum, the youngest omega son of General Yi Taeyong and Jeong Jaehyun his legal wife, was forced to dress as a woman since birth due some reasons pertaining to his health. Being the youngest of five siblings he was always pampered until the day his life was altered forever when a royal decree required him to participate in the selection of beauties for the east palace came at his door.First Prince Seo Youngho is returning to Hanyang aa a war hero after seven years in the barracks. He was born of his concubine mother and the emperor, which is why in spite of his merits and capabilities he was never chosen to be the Crown Prince. This all changed when the untimely death of the crown prince was disclosed which urged the Emperor to allow all eligible Princes to contest for the now vacant post.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Memoirs of East Palace

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my very first time posting a story and I thought why not go with my favourite ship! This story is going to be pretty long and descriptive and written like a history textbook so please be aware. Also don't get offended by any inaccuracies (I've done some research but not extensively) and grammatical errors as English is not my first language (it's not even my second) and my brain is fried from studies and exams. I'll give it my best and some pointers and advice on areas to improve in would be very much appreciated. Thank you and enjoy!

It was the time of dawn when fog surrounded the mountains and the housekeeper of General Yi Mansion, Madam Roh was taking rounds to make the preparation of the day in prim and proper manner. When she neared the kitchen of Orchid courtyard, (residence of Younghwa Agasshi) she saw a sneaky maid slip something into the daily concoction meant for Young-Hwa Agasshi. Without wasting a second she rushed over to the kitchen and grabbed the maid's wrist. "How bold have you become, you dare to do harm to the master you serve!". Saying this she takes away the potion vile from the maid and smells it. "You dare to put aphrodisiac into Agasshi's concoction, do you want to trigger her estrus and make any lowly one claim her! Tell me who made you do this this instant!"

The maid kowtowed and knocked her head on the ground and replied, "This lowly one was forced by Concubine Cho who threatened to make my little brother enter the Royal palace as a eunuch!". The maid kept on begging and crying which by this time attracted the rest of the servants and maids working in the courtyard. Seeing this Madam Roh began berating them as well, "Where in the heavens was everybody?! How could you leave the medicine unsupervised! Did you think General Yi would leave your hands and feet intact if something happened to Agasshi!". Hearing this all of the servants and maids bowed and trembled heavily while awaiting punishment.

"All of you will receive 10 floggings each in the punishment hall after the end of the day and you specifically will receive 10 lashes more and then your deed of contract will be sold to the tavern. The General Yi mansion has no need for insolent people like you" she said this while pointing at the maid still begging for her life. The next moment everyone thanked the madam for her benevolence and were dismissed but the maid was hauled by the guards who were near the entrance of the courtyard to the punishment hall to receive her retribution.

This was a regular day in General Yi mansion. The place was filled with scheming concubines and maidens which could rival the schemes of an Emperor's Harem, all of this just to receive the favour of Yi Taeyong, the General of Kangwon from the Pyeongchang Yi clan. He was favoured by the current Emperor and was third in command of the military of Goryeo Kingdom. But his only fault was that he only had one person in his heart which was his wife Jeong Jaehyun, the youngest omega son of Yeonil Jeong Clan. They met as kids when he was seven and Jaehyun was five, both were destined to be hence to no one's surprise when the general returned victorious from his first battle and received his mandate he took Jaehyun as his omega mate. They have five kids together, the eldest being Yi Taeil an omega who married the Prime Minister Kim Dongyoung and was currently expecting their first child. The second son Yi Sungchan an alpha, followed his father's footsteps and is currently serving as Admiral at the age of twenty in the western barracks. His twin Yi Jungwoo a beta is currently serving as an apprentice under the Minister of Affairs after passing the civil service examination and receiving the first place. The fourth Yi Gyeonghui is an omega and a consort to third prince of the Kingdom, Junho-Gun Wangja-nim. The last born was Yi Younghwa or Youngheum, the youngest omega son who was born with some complications due to which his parents were advised by the head Shaman to always dress him as a woman for his own safety. He is currently taught at home by the top masters in literary and art and is also receiving martial arts training to protect himself and is the most beloved of all siblings.

Even though his love for his first wife knew no bounds, General Yi still had to take in concubines and maidens offered by other senior officials and the Emperor himself for peacekeeping. Despite of this Madam Jeong never despised the General and treated the concubine born children fairly but showed some distance from the concubines themselves. The first one was Concubine Kang (given name Kang Sunhee) who had fallen in love with him after he received his mandate, was born to a concubine mother and a Yangban Minister of Rites belongingg to the Jinju Kang clan who was distantly related to the current Empress, she held considerable amount of influence in the General mansion and mostly kept to herself but gets defensive when someone else tries to garner favour from the general. She bore a son named Yi Minhyung, an alpha who is currently going through military training under his maternal uncle Yangban General Kang. The second concubine was the legitimate daughter of the Andong Kwon clan, Concubine Kwon Eunju. She bore the general twins, a son and daughter, Yi Jeno and Yi Ji-nah who are yet to have their coming of age ceremonies. The youngest child Yi Yeseul who was currently eight years old was adopted and cared for by Madam Jeong was born of Concubine Yoo who died in childbirth. There were four other main concubines including Concubine Cho, Ahn, Yang and Seong who were childless and other maidens sent by powerful families to garner a relation with the General but they were not favoured and instead served as attendants to the main wife, favoured concubines and their children.

**_Youngheum_ **

I woke up an hour before sunrise, waiting for my daily medicinal concoction to be delivered by my attendent Yu-a. For as long as I have known I'm a male omega but for the society I am a woman, being the daughter of General Yi I have always been targeted by strangers and relatives alike which is why to protect me I've always stayed more hidden. To the world I've always had a sickly body and cannot go outside but in reality I have always loved improving myself from intellect to martial arts I have tried it all but one scandalous thing that no one but my sister knows about which would probably cause my father a heart attack if he found out and my mother would curse his fate, _dancing_. I've done it all my life, the first time I saw someone dance was when father took me to a celebration of his battalion. I saw the face of people express so many emotions just through their body movements and expressions and I fell in love. From then on, I take the first day of each week off and visit the Peony Pavilion hidden in the forest behind the Lotus temple, it used to be grandmother's favourite place which was abandoned after she passed. I dance from noon till the sun sets. All these years I was able to do this because my dearest elder sister Gyeonghui always covered for me and made some excuses about going to the temple to pray for a good husband and oh how the gods certainly heard her 'prayers' that now she was married into the Imperial Royal family. Now I don't have anyone to protect me from mother's discerning eyes as all my siblings are married or working in their own fields and concubine born siblings are still too young even if we are amicable with all of them. Although mother is very much affectionate and doting he is also equally cautious and careful when it comes to me which I can't blame him for.

I am seventeen already but instead of learning etiquette and finding a good husband I spend most of my time reading poetry and painting unlike most omegas of Upper class families. As I continue to search for excuses to make, Yu-a enters. "Greetings Younghwa Agasshi, please take your daily supplement", she bows and places the bowl in a nearby table. "What was the commotion about early in the morning? I could hear some cries near the storage yard." I asked while taking a gulp of my medicine. "This one doesn't know clearly but someone had tried to mess with Agasshi's prescription and was caught red handed, Asshi need not worry herself with common affairs. But if it is of any importance the maid was sent by concubine Cho". Saying this she kept quiet as did I for it wasn't the first time nor the last that father's concubines had tried to harm me or my siblings. Father was aware of this but couldn't retaliate due to the influence of their paternal families and could only protect us from harm using his secret guards. After cleaning up I changed into my silk peach coloured jeogori with a dark blue chima and a jade binyeo for the hair.

I reached the inner courtyard where mother and father resided and saw them talking amongst each other, their eyes still filled with love and admiration even after so many years, they are the true embodiment of love. "This daughter greets father and mother, and wishes them both a long life together." I bowed respectfully and sat opposite mother on the chaise. Mother returns a smile and father grins in my direction. "I hope my little flower slept well?" Father asks with a smile. "I had a peaceful sleep, how about mother and father?" We kept conversing until concubine Kang's son Minhyung came to greet them. "This son greets father and mother, and nu-i too. I wish you all good health." Saying this he took a seat beside me. The youngest three still had early morning lessons and scriptures hence couldn't join the morning greetings. After everyone was dismissed I stayed over to converse with father privately. "If father doesn't mind then can this daughter be permitted to visit the temple today?" I asked. "Are you going there to pray for a husband?" Father teased, he knew that it was a time for me to remain free but didn't pry about the exact reason. "As father wishes!" I replied excitedly which made him chuckle and then returned to my courtyard to make preparations.

I saw Yu-a already ready with my belongings and a ready carriage in the entrance way. "Let's go Asshi, I have prepared more guards as well. We must be more cautious from now on." She replied and lead me to the carriage.

After an hour we finally reached the temple's forest gateway as I ordered the guards to stay at a distance and Yu-a to follow me. I got down the carriage with a jang-ot to cover my face and lead the way towards the pavillion. After helping me change clothes Yu-a returned to the back garden to wait until I finished. With my veil fastened to hide my identity, I danced with all my heart.

_**Youngho** _

_**"**_ Jeonha I think-" the servant whispered but was quickly interrupted.

"Stop calling me that and courting death in the open." The master replied.

"Please forgive my ignorance, Young Master. May I ask where we are heading to? Wouldn't it be better if we hurry to Hanyang, aren't we already wasting two days?" He carefully asked inorder to not provoke his master any further.

"I have been gone for far too long and now I'm in the mood to explore newer and untouched sites. There must be something different about Kangwon that even Hanyang cannot compare to. Only time will tell." First Prince Seo Youngho of the Imperial Namyang Seo clan told his personal attendant Chul-soo as they made a detour from the forest behind the temple. Suddenly the prince's movements stopped as he ignores the questioning stare of his attendant and moves towards the sound of water nearby. He makes a run for it and soon leaves behind a worried Chul-soo who rushes after him, as he nears a clearing his footsteps suddenly quite down and he stops and stares.

It's a kisaeng dancing in the abandoned pavillion situated in the middle of the lake with the setting sun acting as a backdrop of a masterful painting. As he looked on he noticed the clothes on the person, it's definitely made of a high grade silk brocade and his movements are gentle but fierce, scorching but warm and nothing seductive which is totally unexpected. Not even kisaeng's of the capital can afford such brocade and silks nor dance like a phoenix. This person was definitely of a different calibre.

As he moves to get a closer look, a sudden thump behind him distracts him for a while which turns out to be a pouch Chul-soo had dropped. He turns back his attention to the person but the person is already gone.

Still he walks over to the pavillion and stands where the dancer stood and ponders for a moment when his eyes suddenly catch a gleam of light. It's a jade hairpin, certainly belonging to that person. 

"I think I found something different in Kangwon that even Hanyang cannot compare to". He whispers to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the first chapter, I'll probably update in a week or so. Feedbacks are very welcome which will help me improve and if I should continue this series! Thanks for reading my word vomit!:))


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